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Galax
The city of Galax (Originally New Serath) was founded by a group of refugees upon the post-Karkien Decimation wastes of Vanteria. The first settlement began to form some time during the first hundred years of the Third Era, also known as the Years of Wandering and it continued to grow as more and more refugees congregated behind the safety of the walls. Also during this time, the new Kalnuur government was formed to administrate New Serath which originally consisted of a Mayor and a panel of advisers from the community. The first Mayor, Bartleby Nigel Hurnkswellington XVII (of the High Serath Hurnkswellingtons), established the New Serath Militia in order to defend the town from the roving bands of cutthroats and brigands. Upon his panel of advisers throughout the years included such famous persons as Hardaz One-Arm of the Lukaza, Young Sarulas Metorski (Son of Lazerak), and the Lǎoshī Zhǔ of Ku'pon, Houzula. Life in New Serath was not easy. The constant bandit raids and unrelenting elements of nature made life miserable, but the town banded together and kept each-other safe in even the most dark of times. After Hardaz One-Arm died at the age of 107, the Lukaza and the Ku'ponese monks of New Serath joined together to establish the Order of the Blue Diamond; a new group dedicated to the well-being of all peoples of Kalgranoon. They re-purposed the New Serath Lukaza shrine into their headquarters and set it upon themselves to keep the old ways of the world alive in this rapidly changing new age. During the Years of Wandering, New Serath quickly became a burgeoning center of trade upon the wasteland, mostly between the other small Kalnuur settlements and the Saurian Shennates, which had been in a state of political turmoil since the Karkien Decimation. This rich flow of trade made life for the rich of New Serath fabulously luxurious, but terribly squalid for the poor. Although it was easy to make a living, the wealth generated by the trade boom caused two major problems, the poor population wildly surged, and crime increased as pirates were attracted to the city. The streets if the outer city were lined with filth and plagued with disease. The inner city in contrast was the jewel of the wastes; buildings made of smooth white marble and stone recovered from the ruins of the past, shelves lined with valuable artifacts and heirlooms, a glistening freshwater lake fed by an underground spring, gardens free from Karkien corrupted soil with thriving plants, it truly was an oasis for those who could afford it. This disparity between the two classes caused a lot of political unrest, which came to fruition later, in the Dustman Wars. The mayor's government instated the first strict immigration and entrance screening policies for the city, which would set the stage for their attitude towards outsiders in years to come. The next major milestone of the city was when the engineering team led by the Ku'ponese mad scientist Dao Vin'shi developed the steam engine. This new technology would allow the creation of Airships and also would allow New Serath to be raised high into the air above the wastes, safe from pirates and the elements. The prospect of true safety enthralled the denizens of New Serath and a large labor force (mostly of the city's poor) were put to work installing these new electromagnetic steam engines deep underground beneath the city. Many workers died in the deep tunnels beneath the city, but the Nobles persuaded the poor workers that this effort was for the good of them all and for the unity of all denizens of New Serath. During this period, the Vasil emerged from their long isolation in the far reaches of Kalgranoon and made contact with the Kalnuur for the first time in a century. Sarulas Metorski left the city as an ambassador to his Vasil brethren, but soon returned finding that his way of life had become far too intermingled with the Kalnuur for him to stay with them. Finally after many brutal years of hard work, the generators were complete and the trenches were dug. Dao Vin'shi pushed the big red button and the city began to separate from the earth and lift into the sky. The first clouds of steam billowed from the smokestacks and the engines hummed beneath the feet of the denizens of New Serath. The Mayor and his council addressed the public, calling for "A great celebration for the launching of the flying city that shall henceforth be known as Galax, haven of the sky!" Extravagant feasts and celebrations ensued all over the city. A long period of peace and prosperity followed for Galax, plant growth gradually became possible, fresh water was harvested from clouds, the filth from the streets of the outer city was pushed over the edge, and living conditions greatly improved for all citizens. Trade with the surface continued, using new airship barges to transfer materials back and forth from the ground-dwellers. Shortly after the launch, the New Serath Militia was reorganized into the Galaxian Naval Armada and the Galaxian Marine Corps armed with new technologies and brand-new cutting-edge airships. The Navy, as it turned out, was somewhat useless for a long time, as nobody else in the wasteland had the technology to fly. The Naval forces grew lax thinking that they were safe. Many people joined the Navy just for the fanfare that surrounded being in the armed forces; the Navy was often paraded around the city with their shiny new uniforms and extraordinary airships to provide the people a false sense of security. Most of their time was either spent sleeping on the decks of their ships during useless patrols, being flaunted about in parades, or trying to woo the women of the city with their shiny uniforms in bars and brothels. Many people did not see the use of keeping a Navy in such a time of peace and prosperity. People criticized the Navy for being more trouble than they were worth, a frivolous expenditure of valuable resources for the sake of vanity. After the launch of Galax, religion among the Kalnuur populace underwent a brief resurgence in which the Galaxian Church of Kalin was established. The Kalnuur citizens of Galax believed that perhaps Kalin had returned and granted them this great period of peace and prosperity. As Kalin failed to manifest himself time and time again, the Galaxian church slowly lost its public favor and faded into the background. Churches from this era still dot Galax and are still in operation, although few attend services or worship with any regularity. At this time, the Saurians were engaged in their "Unity Wars," the new Vasil settlement of Aethelhel was growing in size at the foot of the lone mountain Druindar, and the disparate groups of pirates on the ground signed the "Dustman Pact" forming the nefarious group known only as "The Dustmen." All of a sudden, a mysterious political movement strange began churning among the poor of the outer circle of Galax. The Dustmen had somehow infiltrated the city through the immigration system and were causing political unrest. The poor of Galax began touting the Dustmen to be the "Saviors of the common man," and held increasingly violent protests against the nobles of the inner ring. While the Marines were distracted with the protests, Dustman agents disguised as common citizens infiltrated the science labs of Galax and stole blueprints and schematics for airships and steam powered technology. The agents slipped out as quickly as they had slipped in, although some of them stayed to keep the uprisings going. They brought the stolen technology back to the ground where the Dustmen began manufacturing the first steam-powered airships outside of Galax. The conflict that followed was dubbed The Dustman War (and later 'The First' Dustman War). The fighting went on for ten years on and off. Protests and riots in favor of the Dustmen were common on the outer ring of Galax, leading the inner ring to seal itself off. The Navy of Galax was able to hold the blockade against the pirate forces, having better equipment, training, and discipline, but trouble on the homefront intensified nearly to the point of Civil War. The Marine Corps struggled to put down the violent riots and protests in the outer ring without harming the civilians and causing further unrest. They tried tirelessly to track down the leaders of the movement spreading the lies amongst the people, whom they knew to be Dustman agents. The conflict came to a climax when four Aranjite Vasil mages in league with the Dustmen infiltrated the central ring of Galax and set off an Arcane bomb. The explosion shook the foundations of the city, killed dozens of Kalnuur nobles, and damaged one of the steam engines keeping the city aloft. The entire city nearly crashed to the ground, which would have killed all of its inhabitants. This act of terrorism caused the Kalnuur government to ban the use of all magic within the limits of Galax, expel a vast number of people from the outer ring, and intensify their war effort against the Dustmen. The newfound strength of the Galaxian Navy hit the Dustmen like a brick wall. They called for a ceasefire and went back to the surface to regain their strength. They continued to frequently raid the trade barges and outlying cities with their airships, leeching off of the prospering city's resources. Another hundred years of piracy and unrest passed, but not nearly as severe as it was during the war. The Kalnuur of the inner ring grew more and more insular. Strict immigration policies were put into place which deterred the poor on the ground from moving to the city. This was when the Second Dustman War broke out. With renewed strength and mysterious magical backing, the pirates returned to the skies in force flying under the banner of the god Aranji and the Saurian Shen Roseth. The war lasted seven years, the forces of Galax were pushed all the way back to their island. In the midst of the war, Cantor was bombed by a ruthless extremist pirate group known as "The Black Sheep." This led to the momentary failure of Cantor's main steam engine, which caused Cantor to break away from the mainland of Galax and sink several hundred feet in altitude. On that same day, The Black Sheep raided many other towns along the outer rim, some of which floated away, and some of which crashed to the ground. Many innocent civilians died on that day, some of which were supporters of the Dustmen. Galax was crippled by this attack, which turned out to be one of the most decisive tactical strikes by the pirates in course of the war. If it were not for what happened next, Galax surely would have fallen to the pirates. This screw-up created a schism within the hierarchy of the Dustmen, which ultimately led to their division and subsequent conflict amongst themselves. In the aftermath of the tragedy, favor of the pirates in outer Galax and the newly formed islands fell significantly. The Galaxian military was able to rout the remaining pirates from the city limits and begin their recovery efforts. These wars did not fail to leave their marks upon the Kalnuur citizens of Galax. They now hold resentment for ground-dwellers and the other two races, referring to them with the derogatory term "Duster." On that day, Cantor was not the only outlying town targeted, several other minor villages along the outer ring were cut off from the mainland, leaving their residents stranded with only what materials they could find for themselves. After months of waiting in desperation for news from Galax, a large airship was sent to each of the lost cities from Galax bringing news and supplies. Cantor and the other separated towns continued to develop of their own accord, but it was very difficult without resources. Gathering materials from the islands was not permitted, as the resources were scarce and the polarity of the neutron flow within the electromagnets threatened to be reversed by changing the chemical composition of the island too drastically. In order to expedite the gathering of resources, Cantor was provided with an airship for defense and transport to the surface. The capital also gave each of the separate islands independent governance by a mayor whom had jurisdiction over trade, resource gathering, and domestic affairs within their respective spheres of influence. Currently, the government of Galax consists of a Governor residing in the central city and the mayors of the towns surrounding the central city. They meet regularly in council to discuss the state of the union.